Last week’s column on shopping for a buyers agent elicited considerable response from real-estate brokers and agents, especially on the topic of exclusive buyers agents and dual agency.
Julia Huntsman, a Cerritos, Calif., broker associate, argues that agents who don’t take listings lack a comprehensive understanding of their own profession, and that many buyers prefer to use the same agent to list their home and buy another. “In any profession, your client is your client, someone who has built up trust in you,” she says.
Jim Bilbao, a Poulsbo, Wash., agent, makes a similar point: “If you never negotiate from the sellers agent perspective, you are less prepared to position negotiations effectively with sellers in service to your buyer….many [clients] can’t buy until they sell. You’re suggesting not to use one agent for both?”
Well, yes I am — if you can find an agent who specializes in working just with buyers. The idea that exclusive buyers agents can’t understand a seller’s perspective is hogwash — and somewhat akin to the notion that a man should never write a novel from a female’s perspective, or vice versa (under that logic, we’d wouldn’t have “Anna Karenina” or the “Harry Potter” series). It isn’t at all unusual for people to deal with two different agents — one to assist in selling their home, and one to help them buy a new one — especially if they’re moving to a different town.
What’s more, very few exclusive buyers agents have never taken a listing in their lives. Most choose that path after trying the more traditional sellers-agency route. They simply decide that they prefer working with buyers.
Exclusive buyers agents can focus on their customers and their needs in a way many sellers agents can’t. They don’t have to spend their time holding open houses, staging properties, or doing all the other marketing tasks that consume much of a listing agent’s time. They can concentrate on previewing homes, investigating comparable houses, helping the buyer understand financing options, negotiating the deal and making sure all the inspections and escrow items are done in a timely manner.
What’s more, home shoppers who use exclusive buyers agents don’t run the risk of falling in love with one of their agent’s own listings. When that happens, the agent becomes a dual agent — beholden to both the seller and the buyer, and thus, beholden to no one. Because this limits the amount of advocacy and advice the professional can give either party (for instance, a dual agent can’t tell the seller the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay), it’s illegal in some states.
Dual agency isn’t always a recipe for disaster. I once employed a listing agent who sold the house to buyer clients, and because she was extremely ethical and professional, the situation worked out well for all parties. But even under the best of circumstances, both a buyer and seller give up something in a dual agency situation — while the agent pockets more than he or she usually would in commissions.
Good for the agent, but not so good for you.
Originally posted at www.realestatejournal.com/columnists/housetalk/20070416-fletcher.html
